04/11/2026
£4.4 MILLION FOR ROYTON. BUT WHO IS PAYING THE PRICE?
We have had enough.
Oldham Council, Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) and the Bee Network need to understand that they are dealing with real people, real businesses and real livelihoods.
Let’s get something straight.
We have attended several meetings. We have raised our concerns. We have explained the potential damage this decision could cause to our business.
We have spoken. We have listened. We have tried to engage.
But what is the point of having meetings if the decisions appear to have already been made?
It feels less like consultation and more like being told what is going to happen, whether we agree or not.
That is not consultation. That is dictating.
For nearly 12 years, Istanblue has invested in Royton. We have worked hard, created employment, paid our taxes and contributed to the local economy.
We are not asking for favours. We are asking to be treated with basic respect.
Now a bus stop is being positioned directly outside our business, despite the concerns we have repeatedly raised.
Have the people making these decisions considered what this means for our customers, our visibility, access to our premises and our future trading?
Or does that simply not matter?
And let’s talk about the money.
Official committee papers list £4.4 million in funding for the Royton Town Centre scheme.
That is public money. Taxpayers’ money.
We have every right to ask:
* Where exactly is every pound being spent?
* What assessment has been made of the impact on independent businesses?
* Why are business owners’ concerns not being properly addressed?
* What alternative locations for the bus stop have been considered?
* Who is accountable if local businesses suffer financially as a result?
You cannot spend millions claiming to improve a town centre while making the people who keep that town centre alive feel ignored and powerless.
A town centre is not just roads, pavements, bus stops and fancy paving. It is the businesses, the people, the jobs and the livelihoods behind those doors.
We are extremely disappointed with the way this entire process has been handled.
We want answers, not another meeting where people listen politely and then carry on regardless.
We want meaningful action, not carefully worded promises.
And above all, we want our voices to count.
ROYTON BELONGS TO ITS COMMUNITY, NOT TO THE PEOPLE SITTING IN OFFICES MAKING DECISIONS ABOUT IT.
Enough is enough.
Istanblue – Royton.
